A little while ago I was having a discussion with some people about what makes it right to call something a myth, especially when referring to stories closely related to religion. In particular, someone wondered why we call Atlantis a myth, or why we call the Greek stories of the gods a myth when to them it was religion.
I have done some thinking since then. My history book talks about how about how religion for the ancient greeks wasn't so much about belief but about unity, ceremony, and ritual. It was not about morals or doctrine That got me to thinking. It got me to thinking about how the Greek (and Roman) gods were ungodlike. They created gods to watch over every aspect of lifes, but these gods were not godly. The stories they told attributed them with human characteristics such as lust, passion, and lust for power. In the gods they created their ideals of the perfect humans but their myths and stories ensured that they would always be identified as such, humans.
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